Rent Chinatown (1974)
4.0 of 5 from 591 ratings
2h 5min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A landmark movie in the film noir tradition, Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown' stands as a true screen classic. Jack Nicholson is private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in...Chinatown.
- Actors:
- Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling, Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Roman Polanski, Richard Bakalyan, Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover, Nandu Hinds, James O'Rear, James Hong, Beulah Quo, Jerry Fujikawa, Belinda Palmer, Roy Roberts, Noble Willingham
- Directors:
- Roman Polanski
- Producers:
- Robert Evans
- Writers:
- Robert Towne
- Others:
- Robert Towne, Sam O'Steen, Anthea Sylbert, John A. Alonzo, Richard Sylbert, Jerry Goldsmith, John A Alonso, W. Stewart Campbell, Ruby Levitt, Bud Grenzbach, Larry Jost
- Studio:
- Paramount
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Blade Runner, Action & Adventure, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, Films by Year, Films From: 1974, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Jack Nicholson, Hare We Go! - Bunny Movies For Easter: Part 1, Holidays Film Collection, Instant Expert's Guide to John Huston, New waves of Polish Cinema, Oscar's Two-Time Club, People of the Pictures, Remembering Julian Sands and Frederic Forrest, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 2, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Ron Howard, The Instant Expert's Guide to Wes Anderson, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Robert Aldrich, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Guest Houses On Film, Top 100 AFI Movies, Top 100 AFI Thrills, Top Film and TV Detectives: Guide to Screen Sleuth, Top Films, Top Films of 1990: Vol. 1, What to watch by country, What to Watch Next If You Liked Nomadland
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 28/05/2012
- Run Time:
- 130 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby Digital 1.0, German Dolby Digital 1.0, Italian Dolby Digital 1.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 17/06/2024
- Run Time:
- 130 minutes
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Parisian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- Castillian, Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French Parisian, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New! A State of Mind: Author Sam Wasson on 'Chinatown'
- Commentary by Screenwriter Robert Towne with David Fincher
- 'Chinatown' Memories
- The Trilogy That Never Was
- Water and Power
- 'Chinatown': An Appreciation
- 'Chinatown': The Beginning and the End
- 'Chinatown': Filming
- 'Chinatown': The Legacy
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Reviews (3) of Chinatown
One of Jacks best 3. - Chinatown review by JD
This is truly a great film. The heat is tangible. The direction is interesting and the acting is surreal, except strangely the cameo played by Polanski. In my opinion one of Jack Nicholson's best three films (the others: a few good men and one flew over the cuckoos nest). Faye Dunaway plays an excellent 1940's style heroine. One to watch every few years.
6 out of 7 members found this review helpful.
Mystery Thriller - A Masterpiece - Chinatown review by GI
This is one of those very marvellous films that everyone should make sure they see. It's arguably one of the greatest detective/mystery thrillers ever made and has a story that is so well constructed it's near perfect. The screenplay is often used on University film studies courses to example the way to properly write a script. Mostly though this is a period film, set in 1937 Los Angeles but filmed in a realistic European style, that draws you into the plot that twists and turns keeping you forever guessing what is going on but the clues are well placed if you can spot them. Jack Nicholson, in one of his best roles, is Jake Gittes, a successful private detective who specialises in marital affair cases. He is hired by the wife of the chief engineer of the city's water department who suspects her husband is seeing someone else. Jake takes the case but soon finds he is embroiled in a conspiracy involving deceit, corruption and murder. With a superb cast that includes Faye Dunaway and John Huston (in a really subtle yet very menacing performance) and with the enigmatic title, which is a metaphor for corruption as "you can't always tell what's going on", the film restructures the figure of the traditional film detective as its brilliantly reworks the style of the classic film noirs. The setting of the sun drenched LA in the middle of a drought mixed with political corruption makes for a really compelling story and a real masterpiece of modern cinema.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Jack at full throttle. - Chinatown review by NC
Certainly up there with a top Jack sticker. Not far from Cuckoo film. Jack holds the camera. Got the lens magnet in Easyrider, and continues to this day. Just has that latent tension going on..........works even in comedy roles............
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.